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Long time no mag. The doors of XXC Magazine and xxcmag.com remain closed, however I did want to mention that if you visit the XXC Magazine page over at MagCloud.com (soon to be Blurb from what they say) digital copies of issues 5 through 18 are now free, as in they cost nothing to download and/or view online.

Please note: Any technical issues you have (you should have none) with obtaining and/or reading digital copies of the magazine is between you and MagCloud.com. I receive no money or benefits to pointing you to the editions that I have made free to view. They were just sitting there, not being read, so I figured I would share them at no cost to you. Any of the “news” in them is obviously out of date but some aspects of the mag still make for an interesting read.

You have probably noticed that I have not been updating the website or Facebook page with news and the like for a couple of months now. That is because I am in the final stretches of the “un-production” of the magazine and site.

If you have read the magazine and my Introduction columns, you surely noticed that I’ve always struggled with the ability (financially and mentally) to keep the magazine going, yet I always managed to find the inspiration and “give it one more go.” When I could no longer find that desire and even worse saw my love of riding and racing diminish, I knew it was time to let it go.

I have done a ton of races in my life, and more than a handful have ended with a DNF. Not finishing something that you have worked hard for, trained for and invested a lot of time and money in sucks. However sometimes it’s the best thing to do, especially if you want to continue to enjoy riding and racing your bike.

To the readers who thought a magazine filled with stories and photos from the world of endurance mountain bike racing and riding was cool and picked up a copy, I say thank you (I really thought there would be more of you, ha!). To the writers and photographers who shared their talents for less money than they deserved, I also say thank you. Without you there would not have been an XXC Magazine.

I will be continuing to publish my eight year old personal blog for a creative outlet, but for the foreseeable future, none of that will include the further production of XXC Magazine or xxcmag.com. The site will remain live (at least until the hosting contract runs out in a year or two) and the events calendar will continue on with 2013 dates until January 1st, 2014, but all 2014 race dates will be handled by mountainbikeradio.com, stay tuned for more details on that.

Fall temperatures made the fastest course in the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series even faster and led to many lap times under 24 minutes. The 10-hour field located the fast groves with a wheel-to-wheel opening lap led by Polska’s Adam Gipril. Series veteran Rich Lytle and series regular David Swanson never gave Gipril a gap on the tight course until Swanson moved to the front when the course finally widened at the transition.

Swanson’s lead held until Gipril brought him back on lap four and finally broke things open on lap seven. Up to second in series points, Swanson soon withdrew from New Fane as Gipril continued to grind out the hard laps until he had built an 18 minute lead over Lytle who had struggled with a dangling seat bag and disconnected crank. Lytle has seen years of long course races and knows how to take care of him self until time expires. Gipril literally collapsed on the grass after 17 laps and was still on his back as Lytle rode by on his way to a 20-lap win. Single-speed series leader Jostein Alvestad opened the race on the mountain bike before riding most of his 15 laps for grins on a beefed-up cross bike.

The 5-hour race saw Wausau24 champ Ron Stawicki ride off the front with a sub-23 opening lap while Wausau 12-hour champ Paul Wagner fought his way through traffic to within reach of Stawicki after three laps. Stawicki gradually opened his lead as Wagner fought off a deep team from Ripon College who had invaded the mid-course race. Wagner extended his series lead over Greg Jones who moved up to second with two races remaining. WEMS racers will meet again at the brand new Kewaunee Buckthorn Buster on September 28th before wrapping up a long season at the series championship at the Thunderdown October 12th.

In the Men’s Elite Category, Pau Zamora (Buff-Niner) attacked on the first GPM and brought Wallace (Kona), Ortiz (Selle SMP) and Sager (Jamis) with him. The four GC leaders battled it out for the rest of the stage with Wallace riding away from the group to take the final stage by 50 seconds over Sager. The Final GC standings remained unchanged with Wallace retaining the Pink Jersey for the second straight year. Ortiz finishes second overall followed by Pau Zamora in third.

September 6, 2013 (Mongolia) – Stage Six of the 2013 Genco Mongolia Bike Challenge presented by Orbea is the longest stage of this edition at 170 kilometres. Mike Blewitt (Subaru-MarathonMTB.com) and Maral-erdene Batmunkh (Genco Tour Team) jumped ahead of a large peloton of 30 riders (including the top 5 women in the GC Category) early in the race and were able to build their lead to thirteen minutes. At 120 kilometres in, Marcel Zamora (Buff-Niner), who lead a break from the main peloton, was able to overtake them and hold his lead to the finish-line. Wallace (Kona) and Sager (Jamis) lead a surge from the main peloton to gather up the rest of the riders and finish second and third on the day.

In the Women’s category, Catherine Williamson (Bizhub-Energas) came in a strong first followed by Sonya Looney (Topeak-Ergon) while Erin Wallace was able to fight off an early charge from Douglas, Schulz and Thompson to secure third place on the day. Continue Reading →